My Energy use Diary

SuiDreams

Little_Mama wrote: »

Hi SMF2,

6.19 average Kwh for electric (43.33 for the week)
6.66:eek: average Kwh for gas (4.19 units but then did all that conversion palava!)

Thats great how did you get your gas so low ours is 9.5KWH a day at the moment and thats just a bit of hot water (for 2 people) and the gas hob. Think we have a lot more work to do to get the costs down.

Frugaldom

Little_Mama wrote: »

6.19 average Kwh for electric (43.33 for the week)
6.66:eek: average Kwh for gas (4.19 units but then did all that conversion palava!)

Not too bad for a 4 bed detached but I'm going to make sure it doesn't creep up.

WOW! I REALLY think there must be something wrong with my meter. I can't think how to cut down any further and I certainly don't do 7 loads of washing every 2 days (I'm assuming you mean 7 loads in total and not 21+ loads) Conservatories are geat for drying, I used to do that, but this house has no conservatory. I wonder if the landlord would mind if we built a 'car port' type structure and used it for drying? Hmm... :think:
I have often thought about the possibilities of pedal power using the exercise bike! :rotfl: If anyone comes up with a 'how to' then please let me know. Just enough to charge a car battery would be ideal. (Makes mental note to learn what 12volts is compared to watts.)

Little_Mama

SuiDreams wrote: »

Thats great how did you get your gas so low ours is 9.5KWH a day at the moment and thats just a bit of hot water (for 2 people) and the gas hob. Think we have a lot more work to do to get the costs down.

Hi SuiDreams,

I'm not sure I'vce just double checked the conversion doodah but it definitely comes out as 4.19 units for the week which equates to 6.66Kwh per day.

There's 4 of us, all except DS2 shower in the morning, he's a muck magnet but as he's only wee he gets away with it, different when he starts school! We're on 3 minute showers....well I'm trying:obut a girl's got to do her ablutions properly:rotfl:

We've got a combi boiler and only put the central heating on from November but other than that it's the cooker, as I'm no Domestic Goddess it only really gets used once a day for 40 mins maximum.....that was today boiling some beetroot but made sure we used the steamer to do the rest of the veg.

Oh, also only do 30c wash but it's cold water fill only then heats up with the electricity....I think, please someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Our old washing machine as hot & cold water fill and that made a difference.

Not sure if I'm going to shift it down much from where we are but I'll try to make sure it doesn't get too excessive going hte other way.

LM

Little_Mama

nykmedia wrote: »

WOW! I REALLY think there must be something wrong with my meter. I can't think how to cut down any further and I certainly don't do 7 loads of washing every 2 days (I'm assuming you mean 7 loads in total and not 21+ loads)

Hi Nykmedia.....no I do mean up to 21 washloads a week!:eek:

But they are the small everyday washloads of 2kg weight which take 29 mins and I do them at 30c. Duvets and towels are the only things that tend do be done of full cycles.

We've got a cold fill AAA rated machine and it has made a difference. Checking back on last week wash days used 7.5Kwh per day, as opposed to non wash days of 4.5 kwh.

Other than not using the pc and switching off the modem there's not much more we can do, I don't think, although we did just replace two v old TVs with LCD ones with much lower kwh so that'll be interesting to see, especially as we won't be using the set top box for them.

LM

Frugaldom

Little Mama, all I can say is WOW! I am in awe. There are only 3 of us here, but cooking probably accounts for most of my electricity useage. However, cooking everything from scratch, bulk buying, batch cooking and baking means that I keep the grocery spending to a minimum, so I guess it's a case of swings and roundabouts. I'm hoping it all levels out over the year and am grateful that we are better prepared for further price increases. I still haven't found out how much per unit my electricity costs. MUST remember to find out ASAP. 21 loads of washing a week... wow! :eek: I use soap nuts, so I have bought absolutely no laundry detergent this year. £4 worth should last me the entire year, although I do have some liquid 2 in one branded detergent as a result of having stocked up on BOGOF's in 2007

SuiDreams

Little_Mama wrote: »

Hi SuiDreams,

I'm not sure I'vce just double checked the conversion doodah but it definitely comes out as 4.19 units for the week which equates to 6.66Kwh per day.

There's 4 of us, all except DS2 shower in the morning, he's a muck magnet but as he's only wee he gets away with it, different when he starts school! We're on 3 minute showers....well I'm trying:obut a girl's got to do her ablutions properly:rotfl:

We've got a combi boiler and only put the central heating on from November but other than that it's the cooker, as I'm no Domestic Goddess it only really gets used once a day for 40 mins maximum.....that was today boiling some beetroot but made sure we used the steamer to do the rest of the veg.

Oh, also only do 30c wash but it's cold water fill only then heats up with the electricity....I think, please someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Our old washing machine as hot & cold water fill and that made a difference.

Not sure if I'm going to shift it down much from where we are but I'll try to make sure it doesn't get too excessive going hte other way.

LM

Our boiler is more than ten years old now so that could be making a difference, washer is about 9 years old, but was A rated when I bought it. Wash most things at 30, but Towels etc still get 60. Oven is electric but is new and A rated (less than 1KWH), Hob is Gas, thinking of getting a steamer and see if that saves any money, Fridge freezer needs defrosting so hoping that will save a few pennies when I finally get around to it. Only 2 people and 2 dogs in the house, but we do leave the TV on for the dogs when we do both go out (doesn't happen very often), maybe we should put a radio on for them instead.

Little_Mama

nykmedia wrote: »

However, cooking everything from scratch, bulk buying, batch cooking and baking means that I keep the grocery spending to a minimum

I've still to get to be a good enough cook to do that but I am improving on last year but have a long way to go.

I've also got to look into other washing detergents etc, have read various threads but I do still like my Daz whites.

Little_Mama

SuiDreams wrote: »

Only 2 people and 2 dogs in the house, but we do leave the TV on for the dogs when we do both go out (doesn't happen very often), maybe we should put a radio on for them instead.

You could get them a wind up one.....even more economical;)

belfastgirl23

Hi all, I've been following this thread with interest but haven't posted till now. I too have been trying to keep an eye on our energy use. Alas our gas supplier (phoenix) only reads the meter once a year so my records aren't as detailed as yours. From what I can tell though we're averaging about 120kwh per day in winter and 25 in summer. For the electric it varies between 9kwh per day in summer to about 15kwh per day in winter.

I got new loft insulation in this summer and have noticed a difference - we have had to put the heat on a couple of times in the last week or so and the house seems to hold the heat much better and it only takes about 20 mins to heat up the sitting room.

I really do want to get this down a bit. I've been making some efforts with turning off standby on our big TV etc but mr BG is not committed to this at all and given that he is almost always last in bed it's not totally successful

Oh and there are only 2 of us but in an old 4 bed detatched house with original sash windows...ie drafty. And mr BG objects to curtains as well....

Thanks for starting this thread, I know the grocery challenge thread helps keep me focused and perhaps this thread will do the same for energy use

SuiDreams

Little_Mama wrote: »

You could get them a wind up one.....even more economical;)

Was thinking of getting one of those for other half anyway, he currently wanders around the house with the one for the bath that someone bought him for Christmas and the batteries run down quite often.